Feminine Mystique

Watches designed for women have long been high on femininity but low on mechanical credibility, but now there are timepieces and movements being created specifically for the fairer sex that are loaded with both.

By

Tracey Llewellyn

Updated Nov. 22, 2013 10:25 a.m. ET

A DECADE AGO, the serious business of horology belonged to men. While women had free rein over the jewelry, shoes and handbags, in the world of watchmaking, the male consumer dominated.

What Women Really Want

Change is afoot, however, and the Louboutins and Blahniks are striding into the world of watches in increasing numbers. "There are definitely more women interested in watches than 10 years ago," says Julien Schaerer, managing director of Antiquorum Geneva SA. "There is a predominance for jeweled watches or watches with integrated bracelets on the Asian market, while the rest of the world seems to be gravitating toward larger watches—apart from beautiful Art Deco Cartier models, that remain the best of the best."

Certain men's watches will always look at home on a woman's wrist: an IWC Schaffhausen Pilot or Rolex Submariner or Panerai Radiomir has undeniable sex appeal. (Pertinently, the Radiomir 1940 is being launched in a 42 mm version this year—the smallest case size that the brand has ever made.) Whereas something more daring by one of the über-cool independents, such as Greubel Forsey or Urwerk, worn by a woman is enough to bring any red-blooded horophile to his knees.

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There is, however, a growing demand for watches and watch movements to be designed purely with women in mind. As Thierry Fritsch, chief executive of jewelry house Chaumet, says: "A watch for women is not the feminine version of a watch for men; not a smaller size with a few diamonds on the case. A woman's watch must be designed for ladies—size, shape, aesthetic, color of stones. That said, a man's watch on a woman's wrist can be superb as well!" And, as if proving his point, this year's seven-pieces Montres Précieuses collection was unveiled in January, culminating in the stunning Attrape-Moi… Si Tu M'aimes complication, which uses Chaumet's iconic diamond-encrusted bee and a pink-gold spider to tell the time—the bee representing minutes, the spider the hours, as they travel around the 41 mm, white gold and diamond dial (price on application).

Undoubtedly, women will continue to lust after and wear certain timepieces created for the boys, just as they covet men's bespoke shirts and slouchy jeans, but no longer will the shrunken man's wristwatch with added sparkle and nacre, a pink strap and a quartz movement suffice. Women want more from their watches.

Adrian Maronneau, head of buying, merchandising and marketing at U.K. retailer the Watch Gallery, sums up the current mood: "The trend for women's mechanical watches in Europe started when watch brands realized the appetite of female customers for purchasing men's watches to wear themselves. The 'husband/boyfriend' watch was good, but very soon it was realized that female customers needed something tailored to their needs."

‘There was a time when design was sufficient. Today, that is no longer the case. Women are looking for horological content.’

—Antonio Calce, Corum

"There was a time when design was sufficient," says Antonio Calce, Corum's chief executive. "Today, that is no longer the case. Women are looking for some horological content."

This is where the big fashion houses have come into their own. Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton all decided some time ago to up their horology game, as did some of Europe's top jewelry houses such as Harry Winston, Van Cleef & Arpels and Boucheron.

With quartz no longer an acceptable option, relationships were formed with some of the top Swiss movement makers. Brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Piaget perfectly bridge the gap between exquisite external beauty and super-sophisticated micro-engineering. Van Cleef & Arpels's Poetic Complications are the pinnacle of jewelry-meets-watchmaking. Unveiled at Geneva's Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in January was the Lady Arpels Ballerine Enchantée, featuring a miniature dancer on a guilloché and grand feu enamel dial.

Depressing a pusher at 8 o'clock initiates a double retrograde movement designed by La Fabrique du Temps. First the left-hand veil of the ballerina's skirt rises to indicate the hour, followed by the right-hand veil rising to show the minutes. Both wings remain raised for four minutes before returning to their starting positions (price on application). A stunningly pretty piece of automaton magic, the watch requires the most sophisticated of engineering beneath the dial.

ENLARGE

Van Cleef & Arpels's Lady Arpels Ballerine Enchantée.

Partnerships include Boucheron's Cypris cuff watch featuring black and white diamond and sapphire swans with Girard-Perregaux's famous Three Gold Bridges movement, as well as Boucheron's collaboration with Maximilian BüssersMB&F, which resulted in the JwlryMachine, recreating the HM3 as a magical bejeweled owl. Other pieces, such as Harry Winston's Premier Ladies' Automatic Excenter Bi-Retrograde (£40,500, around $61,260/€47,500), De Grisogono's Tondo Tourbillon Gioiello—with new colorways added this year in the Tondo By Night range—(£153,200/€180,000),

Although Chanel manufactures both men's and women's watches, Nicolas Beau, international director of watches, regards the women's market as more challenging.

"What's clear," he says, "is that the female market allows for a lot more creativity from tiny jewelry pieces up to big traditionally man-sized chronos."

Confirmation of this approach was seen at last year's BaselWorld fair when Chanel launched the Première Flying Tourbillon (£185,000/€217,000). And, while unable to boast tourbillons, Cartier's Promenade d'une Panthère (£126,000/€147,800), with its dial-side rotor in the shape of a gem-encrusted stalking cat, Piaget's Limelight models and the Dior VIII Grand Bal collection featuring rotors (again dial side) with diamonds or feathers (prices from £22,000/€25,800), bring complicated women's watches to a wider audience.

ENLARGE

TAG Heuer's Link Lady Automatic, launched in 2012.

Patek Philippe has led the way in ladies' complications with the 2009 Ladies First Chronograph (£66,200/€77,500) being followed by a highly sophisticated minute repeater (price on application) and world timer (£36,920/€43,300) and joined in 2012 by a perpetual calendar (£67,270/€78,900) and moon phase (£39,380/€46,200). And 2012 saw the introduction of some other important landmarks in women's watchmaking with new collections being launched by both TAG Heuer, with the Link Lady, and Jaeger-LeCoultre debuting Rendez-Vous, its first watch collection exclusively for women. This year sees the introduction of both the Link Lady Automatic and the Rendez-Vous Celestial.

One brand dedicated to women's watches is DeLaneau, a house specializing in decorative enamel dials created by its three enamellers. Founded in 1949 in Biel, Switzerland, DeLaneau was one of the first houses to focus on women's watches and today produces fewer than 250 pieces per year, including its exquisite Christophe Claret-designed Tourbillon (prices starting at 340,000 Swiss francs/€278,200), the hands-free 1608 with jumping hours and minutes.

When it comes to who is buying women's complicated timepieces, chief executive David Gouten is clear. "You have mature markets like Hong Kong and Singapore where consumers are very educated and interest in horology is naturally high..." he says. "The U.S. market is currently less mature in horology terms, but European women have already started to catch up."

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